This year we will unite around the theme, “To hope and act with Creation.“
For we now know that all the creatures groan together and travail in pain together until now
Romans 8:22
Join us for the Season of Creation, a time to celebrate the wonders of God’s creations and renew our bond with the Creator and all living beings. Each year, the Season of Creation encourages us to grow in love and gratitude for the Creator and invites us to repent, pray, and act together for the healing of our common home, the conversion of our hearts and minds, deep commitment to the common good, and care for God’s gifts.
Coinciding with the harvest season in many parts of the world, the Season of Creation begins Sept. 1 with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and ends Oct. 4 with the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology. In the letter of Paul the apostle to the Romans, the biblical image pictures the Earth as a Mother, groaning as in childbirth (Romans 8:22). Francis of Assisi understood this when he referred to the Earth as our sister and our mother in his Canticle of Creatures. The times we live in show that we are not relating to the Earth as a gift from our Creator but rather as a resource to be used.
And yet, there is hope and the expectation of a better future. To hope in a biblical context does not mean to stand still and quiet but rather groan, cry, and actively strive for new life amidst the struggles. Just as in childbirth, we go through a period of intense pain, but new life springs forth.
“Our Common Home: A Guide to Caring for our Living Planet” is a joint initiative of the
Holy See and the Stockholm Environment Institute. This illustrated booklet connects
climate change, biodiversity and sustainable resource use with the messages of
Pope Francis’s 2015 Encyclical, Laudato Si’. It distills the science of urgent environmental issues and explains how individuals and communities can take action to build a
more sustainable and socially just future.